National Day of Prayer 2024
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Church as we come to celebrate National Day of Prayer this Thursday
We wanted to take this Sunday and celebrate National Prayer Day
Prayer is the breath of faith. Prayer meetings are the lungs of the church.
Charles Spurgeon
Because prayer is such an important part of our walk with Christ
It is so very very vital to our growth in Christ
Some background on National Prayer Day
This year National Prayer Day is May 2nd 2024
On Thursday starting at 630 we will have our Prayer Service
More than a prayer meeting it is a Prayer Service
It will be similar to last years National Day of Prayer Service you won’t want to miss it
Some history of how we came to the National Day of prayer
a national call to prayer was issued 1775 by our founding fathers
in 1863 President Lincoln signed a proclamation day for humiliation, fasting and prayer
Church this year we were encouraged and challenged to fast before our National Day of Prayer Service
Almost 100 years later in 1952 a joint resolution was signed by congress and sent to President Truman who made an annual national day of prayer
What an amazing thing our President did
Signing a resolution to celebrate National Prayer Day
He must have thought it important enough to sign it
Politics aside He must have understood the importance of Prayer for a nation, for a people, for the individual
Then that law was amended by President Reagan in 1988 who made National Day of prayer the first Thursday of May each year
So it has been celebrated
Church what an amazing history of how important prayer was for our county
And yet today it would seem that things are so upside down and backwards
At our Prayer Meeting this last Thursday
I shared about something history of Columbia University
Dwight D. Eisenhower the 34th President and also the Supreme Allied Commander
He was also the President of Columbia University
While he was the Supreme Allied Commander he invited the media to Germany to document and show them what was actually happening
He said this needs to be documented because there may come a time when this is forgotten so we will document so it won’t be forgotten
Church not only have people for gotten but it seems almost unreal the world we are living it
It is upside down
When wrong is right and doing right things is viewed as wrong
When girls think they can be boys and when boys think they can be girls and our public officials spend time debating it like it could actually happen
You can start to see how frustrating it could be as a Christian in our world right now
Which is why it is so very very important that we celebrate the National Day of Prayer
Charles Spurgeon said, “True Prayer is neither a mere mental exercise, nor a vocal performance. It’s far deeper than that. It is a spiritual transaction with the creator of heaven and earth.”
The verse for this years National Day of Prayer is
29 “For You are my lamp, O Lord; And the Lord illumines my darkness. 30 “For by You I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. 31 “As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is tested; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
What truth David is sharing about God
That God is a light that goes out into the darkness
The darkness cannot stamp out the light but the light sends out the darkness
Church it is during those dark moments of life that God is a light and sends out the darkness
And it is because of God that allows David to run upon a troop
It is because of God that allows you to walk through this thing called life
This is a call to be the light to a lost and dark world
If you think things are going hunky dory then we can talk after
That is what David is saying about God
What a great reminder to be in constant communication with God during those dark moments
What a great reminder that God is still in charge during those dark moments
That it is the Power of God that does the work
Then to know that God is our refuge and our salvation
church this National Prayer Day is a call to be praying much like most years
we are to be a praying church and a praying people
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
This is was after Jesus had ascended into Heaven
They didn’t go on like before
They didn’t go back to their life before Christ
They had encountered the Living God
And church because of that they were changed men and women
They went back to the upper room
They went back to what they had seen modeled in front of you
When I was a kind growing up like most kids you have troubles you have rough periods in life, you have broken hearts
I would ask my mom about it and my mom would ask me or tell me
Pray about it
To the point it got annoying but wow it was so truth
So church when you come to be about things or problems or even questions my response is usually have you prayed about it
Because that is how important prayer is
These men and women has just watched their friend be arrested, watched him be nailed to cross, watched Him come back to life
Watched Him ascended to Heaven to prepare a place for you and I
And church they leave that mountain and because they have encountered the living God they dont go about their life like nothing has changed they go back and spend sometime in prayer
Church we are to be a praying people because our lives have been changed we should be praying
And you would agree
Just like you would agree Bible Reading is important
but church talk is cheap what does you life say is important to you
Are you a praying people
Are we a praying church
That is why we celebrate the National Day of Prayer much like Easter this may be a catalyst for you and your family to join us for Prayer Meetings
What a joy it is to gather as a body of Believers and pray together
gathering together to pray doesn’t just have to happen when we encounter dark moments
Gathering to pray is an opportunity to join with brothers and sisters in Christ and fellowship and worship God through prayer
To go together to the Throne Room of God in prayer is such an amazing thing to do
Church we are to be a praying people
It was so important that Jesus taught people how to pray
1 It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. 3 ‘Give us each day our daily bread. 4 ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ”
Notice in the first verse
Jesus was modeling communication with God the Father to His disciples
Church I can’t say it enough prayer is so vital to the health of a believer and to the health of a church
Jesus is modeling it to the disciples and they take notice so they ask Jesus to teach them to pray
We have taken this and given it a name called the Lords Prayer
I believe we have taken then and run with like men to do given it a meaning that was never intended to be
Church people know the Lords prayer and they think because they know it or can receive it they are good
Because of this people have a false sense of a relationship with God
You have simply memorized the instruction manual on how to pray
I can memorize the instruction manual for my boat motor but doesn't make me a boat motor, and it doesn’t even make my boat motor work
But what does is when I apply the instruction manual and do what it calls me to do
When you pray
Praise God because He is worthy of Praise, of our praises
When you pray
Ask God to guide and direct you each and every day
Which means you need to praying each and every day
When you pray
Repent and ask God to forgive you from your sins
If you think you are without sin that is a whole other conversation we can have
To repent is to turn from continuing to do that sin and run to Jesus
To ask forgiveness is to know and understand you have done wrong and need to right the relationship
When you pray
ask God to help you forgive people
Remember you have been forgiven so you should extend that forgiveness to others
follow the instruction manual
Prayer will change your life
Time spent with Jesus will change your life
Without praying you cannot expect to be obedient to the Lord
Gathering to pray or even personal prayer is not about giving our laundry list of wants and desires or even needs to God so that He can handle them but rather
Pray is designed to change our hearts to align with Gods heart
It is not about getting what we want or changing God
It is about change our heart, our mind, our life to align with His
We won’t be obedient to the will of God apart from prayer
It is that important
It is so very vital
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
By spending time in prayer each and every day is this able to happen
It is through prayer and reading Gods word that the Holy Spirit comes in and renews our mind and heart to align them with His
Church do you understand how important prayer is
And yet with it being so important and vital to our own personal growth and health in Christ
And in the church
We have churches and people who don’t pray
Other duties become pressing and absorbing and crowd out prayer. ‘Choked to death’ would be the coroner’s verdict in many cases of dead praying if an inquest could be secured on this dire, spiritual calamity.
Edward McKendree Bounds
Because Prayer is so accessable to us we don’t do it enough
When I read that yesterday I was so broken because what an accurate description of my own personal prayer life
What an accurate description of our churches prayer life
But church it doesn’t have to be that
It doesn’t have to stay that way
Just like Jesus doesn’t leave us dead and in sin
He won’t leave us where we are at
This morning is a call to revive or reignite or establish our personal prayer life
To revive, to reignite the prayer life of our church here at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship
21 Churches can run without prayer. Whole denominations can run without prayer. The question is: Is what they’re doing worth doing if they can do it without prayer?
Ben Patterson
Deepening Your Conversation with God (1991)
Ben Patterson
14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
If we will humble ourselves
If we will admit our problem of lack of praying
If we will put the work in
If we will make a priority and commitment to praying daily, regularly, seeking Gods will for our life
God will hear our prayers
If our church will commit to praying
If we will gather regularly to praying
God will hear our prayers
This is not a solution to get what you want because as we have said earlier prayer is about changing our hearts to the heart of God
This morning church it is a call to reignite our own prayer life, the prayer life of our families, the prayer life here at Maranatha Baptist Fellowship
So as we come to our closing this morning
Maybe you need to respond to the Lord this morning
Maybe you are here this morning and do not have a personal relationship with Christ and this morning you would like to know more about that
There will be people down front you can meet with
Or maybe you need to spend sometime at the altar in prayer
Maybe it is a time of repenting
maybe it is a time of praising
Or maybe it is just a time of humbling listen to God this morning
The alter is open